United nations office for drugs and crime (UNODC)

Statement of the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation

to the International Organizations in Vienna Mr. Daniil Mokin at the special

event in commemoration of the World Day against Drug Abuse and Trafficking

Vienna, 25 June 2021

      Distinguished Madam Chair,

      Distinguished Executive Director of the UNODC,

      Distinguished colleagues,

The pandemic has exacerbated existing vulnerabilities and brought new phenomena to the global drug landscape. In this sense we stand for the redoubling of joint efforts to address the impact of the pandemic on the world drug problem, in particular in line with the statement adopted by the CND in April.

Closed borders have led to the large increase in criminal misuse of virtual platforms for drug trafficking. The challenge for our competent authorities is to counter the growing online drug sales through Darkweb platforms, such as the “Hydra Market”. IT-infrastructure of this kind operates from outside of the Russian territory, for instance via the company “Cloudfaire” registered in the United States. The Russian side has repeatedly requested foreign partners to cooperate in this area.

Ensuring access and quality of drug prevention and treatment services, including the treatment of comorbid infectious diseases in a drug free environment is one of the priorities of my country. We do not share dubious harm reduction concepts. Ban on the use of harm reduction in Russia was justified by the relevant decision of the European Court for Human Rights taken in 2019. The choice of effective methods for drug dependence treatment is the prerogative of each Member State.

Deteriorating drug situation in Afghanistan is a matter of more and more serious concern. It requires qualitatively reinforced international efforts, including substantially enhanced capacity-building for Afghanistan and neighboring countries. Russia will continue to support the work of the UNDOC and other organizations, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Commonwealth of Independent States, in finding adequate solutions in this area.

We note the analysis of the negative impact of the cannabis legalization initiatives in breach of obligations under the drug control conventions, contained in the Report. The drug control regime is under attack by narcoliberalism, this is a sad reality nowadays. It is worrisome that while cannabis products are more potent, the youth no longer see any harm in them. Cannabis remains the most abused drug. It would not be appropriate to place cannabis on the same shelve with tobacco. Article 10 of the 1971 Convention already imposes a ban on advertisements of controlled substances, including THC, to the general public. The idea to simply restrict its visibility and advertising to the general public can be misunderstood as a sort of acceptance of its recreational use.

Data are a powerful tool to guide the drug policy only when reliable and verified by competent authorities. As a member of the informal Group of Friends of UNODC Research Russia advocates enhancing data-collection capacities of Member States to expand the geographic and thematic coverage of data for the World Drug Report.

Thank you for your attention.